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Are you ready to get closer to God?

Are you ready to start listening to his words of wisdom?

Are you ready to discover the magic of faith?

If you are like me there have been periods in your life when you
wished you had more faith to help you cope with the troubles of
our time. It doesn’t matter whether you have personal problems
to overcome or are worried about acts of terrorism or natural
disasters; we all need to find more faith.

Sometimes it takes a little fantasy to help us believe in what
we cannot see or understand, that’s where the magic comes in.
Sometimes it takes more effort to accomplish an impossible
dream, that’s where faith comes in.

I believe you will find it is only natural for you to want to
have more faith. We are all predisposed to want to have more
faith. It’s a hidden gene that God instilled us with from the
beginning of mankind.

Don’t you want to do what comes naturally?

Don’t you want to feel better about yourself?

Don’t you want to become a Person of Faith?

When you start to believe that you are a good and worthwhile
person, you will come to realize that you are entitled to be a
Person of Faith. You will begin to understand that it is
preordained. You will find peace of mind. You will begin to feel
wonderful.

In order to find more faith so that you can cope with the
troubles of our time, you need to strip away your inhibitions
and start to use your imagination.

Can you imagine how wonderful you will feel when you become a
Person of Faith? Can you imagine the state of euphoria you will
experience when you discover that you are a good and worthwhile
person? It may seem like a miracle, but it will only be you
finding your faith.

Are you ready to start feeling good about yourself?

Are you ready to experience the joy of having peace of mind?

Are you ready to get closer to God?

You may be asking yourself why would God be interested in me?
You may be wondering if he will hear your prayers. God is always
listening and offering us his Grace. We just have to have enough
faith to learn how to listen for his words of kindness and
caring.

Can you open your heart to God?

Are you ready to become a Person of Faith?

Are you ready to start using your imagination?

Are you ready to strip away your inhibitions?

Are you ready to start listening for the words of God?

Are you ready to have God hear your prayers?

Hurry, God may be waiting to hear from you!

Filed by admin at 2:47 pm under Living With Religion
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If you say that Christianity is a peaceful religion according to scripture then it can be said that Islam, according to scripture is peaceful. In reality, both the Koran and the Bible present a dichotomy, promoting peace and violence. They both contain quotes that are peaceful and some not so peaceful quotes.

In Luke 19:27, Jesus himself says,

“But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them - bring them here and kill them in front of me.”

Now the popular phrase…what would Jesus do?…doesn’t sound to good, does it?

The Koran also has many quotes like 2:190,

“The believer is called upon to fight in the way of God with those that fight with you…but aggress not. God loves not the aggressors.”

The point of using quotes is to show that using quotes is pointless. They can be twisted around and interpreted in a multitude of ways. Organized religion and now, politics,
are both guilty of using propaganda, containing quotes from the Bible or whatever text is appropriate, trying to influence the reader.

Fundamentalists are guilty of using religious texts and incorrectly interpreting them to arrive at the, “I am right, therefore you are wrong” mentality. This mentality can be dangerous; it can led to extremism. Extremists do not represent God but their own agenda. There have been countless cases of religious extremists justifying killing others by following quotes of scripture or I should say, their misguided interpretations of quotes of scripture.

Islam and Christianity have dark pasts (and in some cases, dark presents) because man got involved in interpreting the scriptures. Islam is no crueler than Christianity.

The “Golden Rule” is the key, not the Koran, the Bible, or any other organized religion’s text. Some form of Christianity’s Golden Rule is present in almost every religion. All religions preach peace but do the followers practice peaceful beliefs?

Jackie Wellman, author of Spiritual Clarity, http://www.hoppy.bravehost.com, http://spiritualclarity.blogspot.com

Filed by admin at 11:17 pm under Living With Religion
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This is lesson 1 in a series of lessons on the promises of God and what they mean to us in a contemporary world. These lessons are designed to be easily used for personal Bible Study or as a guide for group Bible Studies. Each of the lessons will include a set of discussion questions at the end of the lesson, which can be used either privately for introspection or in a group setting as provocative discussion builders.

This lesson focuses on the promises of God and his unfailing, immutable steadfastness as He administers His promises. Before we can stand on His promises (or the promises of anyone), we must first trust the reputation of the promiser (the one doing the promising). You see, promises are useless if the promiser is not able to maintain his word. When one changes his promises from time to time, the promises are also less powerful (actually useless) than if we know that the terms of a promise are the same from time to time.

With God, we know that we have an unchangable, all-powerful God Who has all the power in the universe to back up his every promise. Our most accurate source for information about God is the Bible, which repeatedly indicates that He has always existed, and that He created the heavens, the earth, and the entire universe. (Gen. 1:1-2:3, Job 38-39, John 1:1-5, Rev. 1:8).

Wise King Solomon wrote about God, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it” (Ecc. 3:14a). One of David’s Psalms tells us: “But the Lord shall endure forever” (Ps. 9:7a). Another tells us: “But thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.” (Ps. 102:12). Later in the same psalm, we read: “Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” (PS. 102: 25-27).

Recorded in the book of Numbers, Balaam, speaking on behalf of God, says to Balak: “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: for He hath said, and shall he not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). O, what a wonderful thing to know, that the God which speaks promises is a God that does not lie, does take back what He says He is going to do, and does not speak and not make it good! How many times have we been promised by someone something and they do not “make it good”? And here we have it, God will make it good. His Word is always good; He always does what He says He is going to do.

Later in history, when the Israelites were again testing God by turning away from Him and His goodness and prosperity, Malachi the prophet records the Word of God: “For I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6a). In the New Testament, after the death and resurrection of our personal Saviour, the Son of God Himself, the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). And these are but a few of the references in the Bible to God’s immutability and His constancy.

When He promises something, he means to keep His promise! He never casually makes a promises or offers a blessing (or, beware, a curse) if He is not going to back up His Word with action. Once He initiates a promise or a covenant, His part of it will always hold true, regardless of what we do.

Questions for discussion:

What do we know about the promises of God?

What does it really mean that His promises are backed up by His unchanging nature?

What does it mean to you personally, that His word is always sure and steadfast?

Does this change the way you see the God of the Universe, recognizing that He doesn’t simply create some promises for one time and circumstance, and others for other times and circumstances, but that His nature requires that His promises are consistent throughout all time?

Note: Scripture references are from the KJV.

You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. © Sean Mize 2006

Filed by admin at 3:42 pm under Living With Religion
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